Sounds of the sea: Listening to the ocean depths. Study into the effects of the noise from human activities on marine ecosystems

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Main researcher: Michel André (Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s Applied Bioacoustics Laboratory).

Description:
The noise of the sea has always existed - both naturally and biologically. However, due to its recent uncontrolled nature, the massive introduction of artificial sound sources has become a threat to the sea’s balance - more than any other pollution that the marine environment faces.

Cetaceans, as higher food chain predators, have evolved for millions of years around the acoustic perception of environment, and they represent natural biomarkers of the acoustic balance of the oceans. Understanding better the perception of the environment and the means by which these mammals communicate means carrying out research for the conservation of marine ecosystems and the sustainable development of human activities at sea.

A number of problems directly associated with sound sources of human origin have recently been seen - such as increased mortality of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) from collisions with vessels and mass beaching of whales after military manoeuvres. Furthermore, by modifying the levels of salinity, temperature and pressure, climate change distorts the way in which sound spreads and, therefore, the way that cetaceans understand their environment, which makes it increasingly difficult for them to communicate amongst themselves, and even identify each other.

LIDO (Listening to the Deep-Ocean Environment), which leads the Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s Applied Bioacoustics Laboratory is a European project that is part of the ESONET Network of Excellence (European Sea Observatories Network). It includes the detection of geophysical hazards (earthquakes and tsunamis), as well as real-time control of the effects of noise associated with human activities on marine ecosystems, especially among cetaceans, using sensors submerged at great depths (over 2000 metres). An underwater observatory in Barcelona (at Vilanova i la Geltrú), located 4 km from the coast, recently joined this European network of marine infrastructures. This observatory is equipped with visual and acoustic sensors, oceanographic and other devices, and is connected to land by a fibre optic cable.

The Sounds of the Sea project: Listening to the Ocean Depths, proposed by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s Applied Bioacoustics Laboratory, consists of providing visitors to the Zoo with the chance to hear marine sounds, through the development of real-time analysis tools for acoustic events (natural, biological or artificial) on the coast of Barcelona. Visitors can hear the sounds that occur near the Catalan coast, but also live from other platforms distributed throughout the territory of the European Network of Excellence ESONET, via a website especially developed for this purpose.

This connection with the marine environment through acoustics allows visitors to understand one of the most pressing challenges of modern science: return to the sea a vital acoustic balance, a natural space of sounds and silence. This project also enables us to compare the natural environment of the Zoo's dolphins and understand their relationship with the sounds in their environment, in order to improve their acoustic environment.

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